Disclosure statement June 17, 2016

For those in the US following this blog, and those that stumble across it by accident:

I have recently chosen to volunteer time and effort to the presidential campaign of former New Mexico Gary Johnson. Some, but hopefully not all, of my posts in the next 5 months will deal with events from my own understanding of libertarian principles.

There are also some things in that vein that I feel are important to understand.

One of the things to keep in mind is that views of libertarians are not locked into one narrow set, just as Democrats/progressives and Republicans/conservatives have varying viewpoints.

Some libertarians believe in virtually no government at all, that governments serve no legitimate purposes. These are often called “Anarcho-Capitalists.”

Others, such as presidential candidate Gary Johnson, describe themselves as “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.” There are those that claim this view is not true libertarianism.

In my case, I fall into the category described as “a bleeding-heart” libertarian. My description of my libertarian views is that people deserve freedom, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the exercise of freedoms by another person. I also feel that economic issues need to be periodically monitored, if not lightly limited, to ensure the rights of a collective entity does not overwhelm the rights of the individual. Thus I see myself as “socially liberal and fiscally moderate.”

And now, a word on decorum:

For those that wish to claim that their version of libertarianism is the only “pure” one, I will tolerate such claims as long as they are presented civilly.

If you then attempt to resort to name-calling, questioning my parentage/upbringing/whatever, understand this:

My personality is such that I abide by the Golden Rule. “Do to others as you would wish them to do to you.” In other words, engage in name-calling, and I’ll assume that’s how you yourself wish to be treated in return. If the mood strikes, I’d be happy to oblige.